where did 5000 images come from???

[meayofe]

Help...put windows live essentail on pc last week.... now have 5000 photos too dont know where they came form try to delete them in batches.... which start to work but still end up with 5000 jpeg images... did system restore to get rid of them and uninstall WLE... but still got the images.... dont know what do now.....
HELP PLEASE...

 

[richc46]

Run a full anti virus scan
Download and run malwarebytes. Make a full scan and be sure it is updated before use.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

 

[meayofe]

Hi Rich... I did what you sugested and downloaded MALware ran full scan...
nothing...

still got images...

i have AVG anti virus on anyway ,,,

think problem occurred when i updated messenger to Windows live essentials....

it suggested not to have another antivirus on as well as the windows one...
so for a short period i may not have been protected,,, minutes.... that all...
now got all these images... keep trying to delete them which takes forever... but they just appear again in my "recently changed" section...

was so unhappy with live essentails.. uninstalled it and went back to normal windows messenger and updated AVG anti virus again...

still cant get windows defender to work..

what with no sound, all these images and no windows defender,,, fed up...

dont want to pay for help but unless can sort out at least one of these problems think i might have too,, thanks any help would be appreciated
mich

 

[richc46]

First, you mentioned Defender and the Windows Anti Virus. If the Windows anti virus is Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender will be turned off by default. Its services are now performed by the Anti Virus.

Lets try to get to safe ground. If you go with Microsoft Security Essentials, Malwarebytes and the Windows Firewall and get rid of anything else, we will at least know that you are protected. That is what many of the member use including myself.



You can probably get rid of the images, with System Restore from before the problem. If you go that route and it works you will be all set if you go with my security recommendation. Cant hurt in any case. Before any change make a system restore point just in case.

 

[meayofe]

Hi Richard thanks for advice..so thats why windows defender is off... so can leave that..

i did do a system restore and the images where still there....

will go with the antivirus measure you suggest.... but still dont know what ot do about 5000 images...
thanks mich

 

[richc46]

I am thinking about it, Mitch. I am sure that I will come up with something. When I do I will post.
Yes leave Defender off. It is part of Security Essentials.

Give me a screen shot of some of the pic
I have an idea about them

 

[jp07764]

After you deleted the images did you empty the trash bin?
You said they keep showing up in recent changed folder.
Just a thought.

Jimmy

 

[Lorien]

Hi mich,

Where exactly are these images located (I mean the full path name - like C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\Essentials\Messenger or whatever the case may be? Are they all in one folder or are they in a set of folders or contained in sub-folders within one folder or are they spread all over the place? What filetypes are these images (.jpg, .bmp, .gif, ...) or are they a mix of types? Do they have anything in common like a file create date or a file modification date or anything we can use to get them all together to make the process simpler?

Unfortunately, if the images were added as "data" rather than as part of a system or program change, System Restore won't work as it intentionally does not affect data. Since I don't know where they came from or how they are classified, I don't know if this is why System Restore isn't working - but it is one possible reason.

Don't worry about them showing up in recently viewed - it has a limit on how many it will hold and it is far less than 5000, so if they are otherwise deleting and you keep at it, all that will be left is recently viewed (a much smaller number) and we can then deal with that separately as those are pretty much all in one place and should be relatively easy to clear up.

If you cannot delete these photos (you try but they remain or seem to delete but come back when you reboot or anything like that), then try using some different products to delete them and see if that works any better. Try using one or both of the following free products to delete the files/folders. Unlocker at: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Unlocker.shtml or File Assassin http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php These programs often work when normal Vista delete functions fail to operate properly.

Be sure to periodically empty the Recycle Bin as you go along to keep it from building up too large and to ensure that somehow these files are not somehow being restored from there (though that shouldn't happen without you specifically requesting the restore, can't be set to automatically restore so there's no setting like that to consider, and I haven't the faintest clue how or why that might be happening). I sincerely doubt this is happening, but do this just to rule out the possibility.

Perhaps you didn't uninstall WLE completely even if you followed the standard instructions. Download Revo - Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems and check to see if WLE or any parts of it are still installed (as I recall, it actually installed several different programs - I don't just mean Messenger and Mail and such but different programs that did different things but were related) and you may need to uninstall all of them (and WLE if it is still showing up). Use Advanced to try to get everything but be VERY careful at what it suggests you delete to make absolutely sure it is related to WLE and not something else - I recently had a case where if I had agreed to everything it would have removed all the registry entries for my Windows Media player and hosed my registry but good. If in any doubt, leave it alone (it isn't worth the risk). The thing is, I have WLE (all the options) and I don't recall it downloading 5000 images (and if it did, I can't find them and I just searched and I have far less than 5000 images in total on my system so I'm not sure if WLE is the culprit even if it occurred at the same time coincidentally).

Let's see how these options work before we try anything else. Please post answers to my questions (especially the locations and file types - but all the other questions as well) at your earliest convenience along with the pictures Richard requested earlier. Please also attach one or two to the post so we can check the properties and other things to see if that provides any clues. If you have any results or further information, you can certainly include them as well.

I hope this helps. If not, post back and we'll try some other options. I believe this problem can be resolved without needing to resort to anything radical (unless it is some sort of infection we haven't yet detected - but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it).

Good luck!